attain

Pronunciation: /əˈteɪn/

The English word “attain” has 17 meanings listed here.

verb

To come to or reach (a place) by motion or progression.
To arrive at (a certain age or time, condition or state, etc.); to reach.
To gain (a desired result or other objective) through effort; to accomplish, to achieve.
To gain possession of (something tangible or intangible) through effort; to acquire, to obtain.
To reach (someone) after being behind them.
To find out (information, knowledge, etc.); to ascertain, to get at.
To come to or reach a place by motion or progression; to reach.
To arrive at a certain condition or state, etc.
To gain possession of something tangible or intangible through effort.
To come to or reach a position without moving from one place to another.
To extend or reach from one position to another; to stretch.
To find out information, knowledge, etc.
To gain a desired result or other objective through effort.
Of a person: to live to a certain age or time.
Of a thing: to befall, to happen to someone.

noun

An act of arriving at or reaching; an act of obtaining by effort.
That which is obtained by effort.

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English atteinen, atteynen (“to achieve, attain; to be adequate or sufficient; to affect; to come or get to (a place), reach; to corrupt, taint; to overcome, overpower; to overtake; to succeed; to tamper with; (law) to bring to justice, punish”), from ataign-, a stem of Anglo-Norman ataindre, and Old French ataindre, attaindre (“to reach”) (modern French…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.